Tuesday, December 27, 2011

I was inspired by my dear friend, Snarky Marky*, to share this with you today.

My beautiful Monkey got her ears pierced a couple of weeks ago. Her mommy and daddy took her to get her ears pierced and then to see Santa. First, though, they stopped to see my sister at work. She looks pretty happy for a baby who just had her ears pierced a few minutes before this picture, doesn't she?I don't particularly care for this picture with Santa. I would have liked to just see a close-up of Monkey and Santa, not the whole crazy scene around them.This is the picture my brother sent me that night, before I knew any of this had happened. The subject line simply said, "Notice anything different?"My brother had Monkey on Christmas Eve, which couldn't have worked out better, since THAT'S the day of our big Italian celebration (The Feast of Seven Fishes) Naturally, Monkey's mother sent her without a headband/bow in her hair, so my mother went into her craft room, and made this one to match her dress. :)I have this silly app on my iPhone and iPod that lets you play with pictures you've taken. I thought this was too cute.All the grandkids on Monkey's First Christmas. *sigh* It seriously seems like a month ago that Stud, the oldest grandchild, was propped up on the same couch for pictures on HIS first Christmas.All my pretty nieces.I took this the other day while visiting my Monkey. I just threw it in as an added "cuteness" bonus.*M, can you believe I came up with that all by myself? ;-)

Monday, December 26, 2011

My sister, who makes SO much fun of me for my crock pot obsession, got me this little cutie for Christmas (bringing my total to 14!). LOVE IT!!!(She and Stud spend hours making fun of me. HOURS! She even makes fun of me with her friends at work. They've decided I "need to open a Crock Pot museum." Charming, aren't they? I know it's all done with love, though, so I let her live.)

Friday, December 23, 2011

I'm sitting in the parking lot of the VERY crowded mall near my home, and I felt I needed to share a few things with my friends before I headed inside. (By the by, I'm actually posting this from my new phone. Santa came a little early to La Casa de ChiTown )

First, as I was circling the parking lot for the 42nd time, I stopped to let a mom and her daughter, who looked about 4 or 5, cross in front of me. Now, the temperature displayed on my dashboard currently says 33. Neither one of them had a coat on, and the daughter was drinking a slushy. Now THAT'S how we do it around here!

For about a week or so, the weather forecasts have been causing havoc around here because it's been unseasonably warm, AND we were told we would NOT be having a white Christmas. I mean, WTF, seriously?!

Well, as I was driving around, looking for a spot, and enjoying some SNC on my CD player, look what started:

Ok, now I'm off to fight the crowds. Thankfully, I don't think much could ruin my good mood now.

**Update**Ok, it's about 2 am, and I'm just getting a chance to check emails/blogs. Apparently, I don't really know what the hell I'm doing yet with my new phone, cuz this never posted! And, the video wasn't attached. I fixed it, I think, but I don't think the video is very good. :(

Oh, and that's about all the snow we got. There's not one single flake hanging around. :(

Monday, December 19, 2011

I was working with some 1st graders today who I'd never met before. While I was working in a small group with some babies during reading, one of the girls randomly came over to me and whispered in my ear. "You're so pretty."

Then later, while we were taking our afternoon bathroom break, a different little girl got out of line, walked over to me and pulled me down to her, then whispered, "Mrs. ChiTown, you're so beautiful. You're beautiful like a princess." I seriously almost cried.

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Stud went out before me this morning to clean the cars off, and this is what he did with the snow from the cars. =)Just in case you can't tell how small this is...I love that he put this right outside the backdoor, so I see it every time I go in or out. It makes me smile every time. Maybe tomorrow he can give it a face. I think I have some baby carrots in the fridge. =)

So far, it's been an AWESOME morning. I really slept in, which I haven't done in I don't know how long. I only woke up because I was about to wet the bed. I felt around for my glasses, then looked at my alarm clock and saw it was 9:02. 9:02!! A smile crept across my face. Then, I looked out the window and saw this.

" Smile" doesn't even begin to describe what that caused! You know who else was happy, right?

(Wow, you'd think I'd be too embarrassed to keep showing you pictures/video of my hillbilly backyard, huh? Just ignore all the summer furniture that never made it into the garage, ok?)

Friday, December 16, 2011

I'm warning you now, this is a mushy post about CSJ. I'm gonna blame it on the fact that I'm hormonal this weak. Yeah...that's got to be it...

Last night, as we were driving home from a nice dinner out (without the boys!) CSJ started to have a coughing fit. I've been on him to go see a doctor about this cough he can't shake, and he, of course, hasn't yet.

I was frustrated with him, and said, "You know, I just got you back. I'd like to hang on to you for a while!"

He kind of snorted, then said, "Just got me back, huh? Babe, you've had me since I was 20 years old!"

All together now..."awwwwwww!"

Since you're already feeling the "awww," here's another picture of my Monkey. I couldn't find it on my computer the other day. I wanted to share it because it was one of my favorites from that night.She's either yelling, "I'm here!" or she just finished a cheer. =)

This would have been so much cuter if Niece #1's eye wasn't covered by that flower. :(I know I had mentioned last week that I was returning the Johnny Jump Up that I bought for Monkey because I was going to look for the Jenny Jump Up. I ordered it online the other day, along with another bouncy seat thingy, so I told my brother to bring the Johnny Jump Up and the other bouncy seat with him when he came to my mom's, so I could return them. As we were chatting about how much we think she's going to love her Jenny Jump Up, my brother decided he would just keep the Johnny Jump Up at my mom's, so Monkey would have one there. My niece and I quickly put it together and set it up. As predicted, Monkey loved it!

Saturday, December 10, 2011

When I got up to drive Brian to school to take an ACT test this morning, my car said it was 11 outside.

This is what I woke up to yesterday:

Talk about a happy penguin!! It's almost shocking that we had to wait so long for our first snowfall. (Pfft...I'm not even sure this deserves to be called a "snowfall" but whatever!) I'm not quite sure who's happier, me or Buster.

I got to see my little Monkey last Sunday. When I walked into my brother's condo, he said she was still in her carrier because she was sleeping. This is what I saw:

Don't you just want to eat her with a spoon?!?! AND, do you see the flower headband?! AND, do you see that it's PINK?!

It only gets better. I unzipped the cover and saw this:

SHE ACTUALLY LOOKS LIKE A BABY GIRL!!!

And those are just a few of the things that have made me smile this week.

Friday, December 9, 2011

...cuz I'm just so tired. This morning, I planned out a lovely little post in my head, taking pictures and everything, but somehow, it's after 10 PM, and I've been home for about a half hour.

I had an appointment straight from school, and then it ended up lasting 3 hours. I then headed out to the bar, because Stud was cleaning, and somehow ended up being there for a couple hours. I stopped on the way home to pick up something for us to eat, then finally headed home after 9. CSJ had texted earlier to say he was going to be home between 9:30-10. He literally pulled in right behind me. As I was shifting into park, there he was. It was a nice way to end a LONG day.

We just finished eating, and it's time to hit the sack. I have no idea how he's even conscious, since he was up at 3:30 this morning for work. Stud is already in bed, since he said he was exhausted from cleaning the bar. We are such a bunch of dorks, don't you think? Whatever. I'm too tired to care what you think.

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Monday, December 5, 2011

Ok, I didn't bitch about this Saturday when I noticed it, but now I just have to. As we were driving from my in-laws Saturday afternoon, I noticed a freakin' chip in the windshield of my, I mean Stud's, new car. ARGH! I was just so annoyed!! I knew it had to be fixed ASAP, especially because our temperatures are supposed to plummet this week, down to the 20s. (My happiness about this is a whole separate post!) I didn't want to take a chance on waking up to a huge crack across the windshield

We got home and all started getting ready for the concert. While I was showering, etc., CSJ called a few local places to get prices and so on. We wound up making an appointment with a place just a few blocks away from the house. They said they'd be out Monday morning. Great! "We'll call in the morning when we're on our way." Super!

This morning, CSJ stayed home to wait for them. They had told me on Saturday that they would be there between 8-8:30. Well, 8:30 came and went, no call. 9:00, nothing. By 10, CSJ started calling them. It was a series of phone tags calls, which really pissed him off, especially because he blew off work to wait for them. It's nearly impossible for me to do anything from work because a)I'm busy TEACHING and b)I couldn't get a signal on my phone even if I wanted to call someone.

I called home when my class went to lunch and spoke to Stud. "Did they ever show up?!" "Yeah, about 5 minutes after Dad left for work." Ugh!! Whatever, they made it. I just hope they did a good job. I had left cash for Stud to pay for the repair - $80. Um, yeah, don't even get me started!

Well, if all that wasn't aggravating enough, when I got home from work, I checked my email, as usual, and almost screamed when I opened my Groupon email. One of the deals today was - ready? WINDSHIELD REPAIR!! Oh, and the BEST part? The deal was for $19!!! We paid FOUR times that! AARRGGHH!!!!

There was one teeny tiny thing that made me feel a little better, though. One of the other million emails in my inbox was one from the car dealership. It was a survey about our overall satisfaction with our experience last week. Well, they just happened to catch me at a bad time. Boy, did I unload!

My top four complaints were this:

1. While test driving the car, CSJ noticed the brakes were a little wonky. We were assured they were going to fix that before we left. Not so much. As I mentioned last week, I still felt something weird when I drove home that night.

2. As part of our "negotiations," CSJ got our sales guy to agree to sending us home with a full tank of gas. Instead, we had 1/4 tank. I didn't know CSJ made that deal, and since I drove the car home, he didn't know it wasn't taken care of until it was too late.

3. The fact that it cost us another $90 for a spare. (Bullshit, I say!)

4. The fact that we now had to spend another $80 to fix the windshield.

The last thing on the survey was a box where they asked what they could do to make your experience better. I wrote, "Reimburse me for the $90 key, and the $80 windshield repair." I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens, right? If nothing else, I was able to get it off my chest.

Sunday, December 4, 2011

No pictures with Santa today. That's all I'm gonna say, cuz I don't want to whine and rant tonight.

Funny little story from last night - Stud has heard this story before, but we were talking about it again last night. I attended my very first concert ever with CSJ, about 2 months after we started dating. I'm still shocked my parents let me go, quite frankly. I was 17, and we went to see ZZ Top with another couple, who were good friends of CSJ's. We were celebrating CSJ's 21st birthday. The concert was interesting. I heard/saw/smelled things I had never before experienced. Let's just leave it at that. But, that's not the meat of the story.

That night, I wore my favorite pair of black jeans, and 6 inch stiletto heels. Oh, yeah, I was smokin' hot, let me tell ya. Well, as we were participating in the mass exodus from the Rosemont Horizon, I slipped on some beer that was spilled at the top of a flight of stairs. My left foot/leg slid straight out and down, while my right foot/leg somehow went behind me (picture the splits) and I fell (slid?) down a complete flight of stairs. As if that wasn't humiliating enough, CSJ and his friends couldn't stop laughing at me. Of course, as they were peeing their pants laughing, they were making sure I was ok, but still, I was so embarrassed. Over the years, he's teased me about it many times, saying different things all the time, ranging from I was drunk, to I had a contact buzz, to I couldn't walk in those shoes, etc. For the record, THERE WAS BEER ON THE FLOOR!

Ok, so ever since Stud heard that story, he and his father have had more than a few laughs about it. TSO was playing at the same venue yesterday, but it's is now called the Allstate Arena. So, naturally, as we were driving to the concert, the story came up again. CSJ kept talking about what I was wearing just to tease me. "You should have seen your mother. She was poured into these black jeans, and she was wearing these crazy-high black heels. She couldn't walk in them, which is why she fell down the stairs." blah, blah, blah. He thought he was SO funny.

I said something like, "Wow, that was 26 years ago. Where did the time go?" We both started commiserating about how old we are now, and he suddenly looks at me, gives me the once-over, and says, "Yeah, Stud, your mom went from black jeans and spiky heels to stretch pants and orthopedic shoes!" All I could do was laugh my ass off, cuz it was totally true!!!! God, I'm so pathetic.

Well, I guess the only thing that matters is he doesn't care, and he STILL thinks I'm pretty cute. As my niece would say - "That's a big D-U-H, DUH!!"

I've been looking out my window since 7 am, waiting for the sun to make an appearance. It's now 9 am, and it's even darker than it was at 7! Yesterday, it was unbelievably sunny all day, with temps in the 50s. I had such high hopes for a repeat today, since, like I mentioned yesterday, we're supposed to be taking Monkey to see Santa. What I didn't mention yesterday was that Santa is going to be in the quaint little town square in the "downtown" section of where my brother lives, and all the festivities are outside. Poop. Maybe the temperature will cooperate, even if the sun won't. As I type this, it's 48 outside. If it's warm enough, we'll still go. Well, if it doesn't start raining, that is. Double poop.

Saturday, December 3, 2011

The evening was delightful, despite the fact that this year's show couldn't hold a candle to last year's. We didn't hate it, it just wasn't as good. CSJ enjoyed it, though. He has a true appreciation for the musicians, and their level of talent.

My one complaint about the show isn't even about the show, per se. It's about the damn seats at the venue. Holy crap, were they SMALL!! I have never been that uncomfortable in my life. Even CSJ was shocked at the teeny seats, and he's a thin person. Stud and I were smooshed! Actually, we had Stud between us, and the two of us basically sat sideways in our seats, draping ourselves over Stud's shoulders. The poor baby. These seats made the folding chairs we sat on last year seem like Lazy Boy recliners!

We went to dinner at a place that Stud and I have never been, but CSJ had mentioned before to me. We weren't disappointed. Stud got some kind of killer 3-cheese mac 'n' cheese, with chicken. It was delish! I completely annoyed him by taking several 'tastes' of it. I order chicken piccata, which was served on a bed of angel hair pasta (my favorite!), and CSJ had a Philly cheesesteak sandwich which looked pretty tasty.

I had planned to have a picture of the three of us taken tonight so that I can finally make my Christmas cards, but that never happened. (I actually didn't take one single picture or video tonight, thanks to our cramped conditions) I'm starting to think I might have to use the half-crappy one we took on Stud's birthday. I was really hoping to get a picture tonight, so I could order the cards online, and have them ready by tomorrow. I have NEVER waited this late to send my cards. My mom even called me today to tell me that one of her friends called her to ask if I was ok because she didn't get my card yet.

I may or may not have mentioned before that I have always been one of "those people" who has her cards done and mailed by Thanksgiving. Actually, the routine has always been to put the cards in the mail at the post office on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, and then everyone would get them on the day after Thanksgiving. I kind of took pride in the fact that mine was always the first card most people received. Apparently some people actually look forward to it, since they worry when they don't get it. I send a LOT of cards (approx. 125) so I always try to start right after Stud's birthday. Actually, I always try to take a nice picture on Stud's birthday to use for the card. It's usually not too hard to get a cute picture of the two of us on his birthday, since we're usually smiling and happy anyway.

I know there's going to be quite a few confused people this year when they get a card with the THREE of us on it. That hasn't happened in, what? About 17 years? Tee hee. I'm kind of amused by that. I'm anticipating a flood of phone calls in the week after I mail them. :) Not all the questions will be about CSJ,though. I also plan to put a cute picture of Stud and Brian, that I took on Stud's birthday, on the card.

I suppose I'd better hit the sack. I plan to fall asleep watching SNL. I need my beauty sleep because I have a very busy day tomorrow. I'll be going with my brother to take Monkey to see Santa. I can't wait!! I think she needs to wear the cute little "Santa Baby" outfit her favorite auntie bought her for Christmas.

Ok, I'm off to put on my penguin jammies! Hope your Saturday was a good one, too. And, don't worry, I'll be posting plenty of pictures of my little Monkey and her visit with Santa tomorrow.

Friday, December 2, 2011

Some of you may remember the gift I gave Stud last year for his birthday. (If not, click here.) Well, we're doing it again tomorrow. This time, Dad will be joining us. I'm really excited about the whole thing. We've never all gone to something like this together. I can't even remember the last thing we did like this as a family. I'll venture to guess it was the circus when Stud was 2.

Just like last year, we'll be going to the 3:00 show. The plan is to then get some dinner after the show.

Funny little side story-when I got the email from Ticketmaster about the concert, I first checked to see if CSJ wanted to join us this year. Then, my next phone call was to Bestest Friend to see if she wanted to join us. Well, it turns out she already had tickets for the same show! She's going with another friend of ours. Unfortunately, we won't be sitting anywhere near each other. They'll be on the main floor, which is where Stud and I sat last year. Which is also why we'll be in the balcony this year! It was too close to fully enjoy the show. Plus, I'm so darn short, that I couldn't see a thing on the stage. EVERYONE on the main floor stood for most of the concert, which completely blocked my view of the main stage. I wanted to be able to take it all in this time, so I picked seats in balcony.

I'm hoping Bestest Friend, and our other friend, will want to join us for dinner. Even if they don't, I know it's going to be a nice evening together.

Tomorrow morning we're supposed to be getting Stud a new phone. He desperately needs one, even though he doesn't want one. His phone is way past it's prime. He's dropped it so many times, it hardly even works. He can't hear who he's talking to, and we can't hear what he's saying. Plus, it won't hold a charge for more than an hour or two. Now that he's driving around by himself, I really want him to have a phone that works. I'm one of "those" moms who expect him to call when he gets there, call when he leaves, etc...

Today, he gave me a mini-stroke because he was AWOL for most of the day. The plan was for him to get an early start on the day. He was going to go to the pet store for Buster's freakin' prescription dog food (ugh!) then he was to go to his grandma's to see if she needed anything, then he was to make his way to the bar to go clean. Around 2, my brother texted to ask where the hell his nephew was because it was so late. Well, that freaked me out, since I thought he had gone there earlier in the morning. My brother said he did, indeed, call my brother at about 9 only to have my brother yell at him for waking him up. (yeah, he's a charmer, that brother of mine!) But then, he never heard from him again. Naturally, his phone was dead, so we couldn't get in touch with him that way, and he wasn't answering the house phone. Now, there was a part of me that thought maybe he had gone back to sleep after he texted my brother, which ticked me off. But, the other part of me thought he was dead in a ditch.

Long story already too long, turns out he went to the bar, and he was there cleaning the whole time. My brother ended up driving over to check and see if he was there. We were both more than a little annoyed that his phone was dead. So, bottom line, he's getting a new one, like it or not. Besides, I have a feeling he's gonna like it. I went into an AT&T dealer yesterday to get some info about switching him over to my plan (he currently has his phone plan through his dad's phone) and the salesman told me that right now they're offering the iPhone 3 for $1. Yes, I know it's the "old" one, but hell, it's still way nicer than what he has. I may even get one for myself for a dollar! He could also choose a new Android phone for free, which is the incentive they're offering for adding a second line to my plan.

I know you'll all be waiting with baited breath to find out what he chooses, so I'll try and update you as soon as he decides. You're welcome.

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

...this kid is costing us a fortune!! Because the "new" car is used, we were only given one key last night. No big deal, we thought, we'll just go get a copy made. We were pretty psyched that the key didn't have one of those chip-thingies on it, so we figured it wouldn't be more than a few bucks. Yeah, well, we were wrong.

We went to the local Ace Hardware this afternoon, and it turns out that there is, indeed, a chip. It's in the plastic "head" of the key. So, in the windup, the spare cost us another $89! So help me God, if this kid loses a key, I'm gonna take a limb!

From Ace, we went to the store and got seat covers, air fresheners, and looked at mats and scrapers. I decided to get the mats and scraper at Sam's Club, since I like what they had better. Last month I had bought Stud a really nice emergency car kit at Sam's, in anticipation of the new car arriving by Christmas. It even has an emergency shovel, which my fellow Chicagoans know is a vital part of a ChiTown winter.

While we were at the store, I picked up a couple of containers of cotton candy for Brian, since he loves it. When Stud saw it, he had the unmitigated gall to ask, "You didn't buy ME anything?" I had to remind myself that he sometimes has a dry, twisted sense of humor, so I wouldn't punch him right in his mouth!!

CSJ surprised me this afternoon by leaving work early, planning out the errands we had to run, and fitting a nice dinner and some alone time into the plan. I guess there are some advantages to him still having an apartment. ;-) It's kinda hard to have meaningful alone time when there are always teenagers in the house. It was a really nice evening. But, now I'm completely exhausted, and I need to hit the sack. I'm not sure how many more of these long days I can handle. By now, most of you know what happens when a certain little penguin doesn't get her 8 hours of beauty rest for a few nights. For those of you who don't, let's just say - it ain't pretty!

That I'm a pretty boring person, who tends to bore her readers with the boring details of her boring life. However, I also learned that my Bloggy Buddies are totally awesome, and they keep coming back anyway. :)

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

I just drove this little puppy home from the dealer. It's technically MY car, although we bought it for Stud. This kid has no idea how lucky he is. At least I don't think he does. But, he needs a car to get back and forth to school, and hopefully a job soon! Actually, he's been working at the bar, cleaning, for a couple of months now. My brother is hoping he'll be able to start coming 3 days a week now. That should be just enough pay to cover car insurance and gas.

This car is so freakin' cute!! I'm seriously thinking about keeping it for myself, and giving Stud my truck. Yeah, he's thrilled...

Monday, November 28, 2011

Sorry, I'm sure you're all sick of looking at pictures of my gorgeous niece. However, today's prompt from NaBloPoMo is, once again, a dud (what is up with the sucky Monday prompts?!) so I'm going to post a picture!

My brother actually had a handful of pictures of his baby in the dress she wore to the party last Sunday. This is the photo I used to make the Thank You cards. She's such a doll!!!

It's really too bad her mother insists on dressing her like a boy! When my sister showed a picture of Monkey from Thanksgiving to her friend, the friend said, "Oh, my NEPHEW has that same outfit." WTF?!? For over 4 months now, her mother has been dressing her like a boy, and it drives us nuts!

Monkey and Grandpa

Monkey and Grandma

Monkey and Auntie

I swear I wasn't drunk here!

We tried to get a family picture, but it didn't go so well. I have two really crappy ones, and I wasn't even going to post them, but they kinda make me laugh, so I figured, what the hell! My niece should have a few on her camera, so when she sends them to me, I'll see if they're better. If they are, I'll post them later.

Stud's making a silly face here, I'm letting all 15 of my chins show, and Monkey started to cry.Take 2 was just as bad. Monkey was screaming at this point, so my dad's looking at her instead of the camera, and my mom was saying something, probably "wait, don't take it yet!" Poor Brian was trying to take the pictures, with everyone's camera, of course. Like I said, looking at these makes me laugh because it takes me right back to that absurd moment!My sister brought this silly headband with her because she thought we might be able to get a cute picture of Monkey so my brother could make his Christmas cards. Too bad she had a (boys!!!) Thanksgiving outfit on, huh?Like I said last night, I got to spend most of the day with my baby yesterday. Once again, she was dressed completely in BOY'S clothes. Literally. The jeans she was wearing were the EXACT jeans I saw the day before at Target, that had a tag that said "boys." I'm sure the striped shirt with the big frog on the front was also a boys shirt. The ONLY thing that saved her was that her mother FINALLY put a headband on her. How freakin' adorable is this baby?!

(some of these were taken with my iPod, which is why they're such poor quality. Sorry. However, her cuteness still comes shining through, don't you think? tee hee)Ok, that's all you get today. I wouldn't want you to get spoiled or anything. I've got 3 minutes before I have to take the chocolate pound cake out of the oven that I'm making to bring to my girlfriend's in a while. Today is her baby's baptism. I'm just going to have to suffer through another day snuggled up to a cute baby. Ahhh....someone's gotta do it....

Saturday, November 26, 2011

It's been raining/drizzling/pouring here all day today. It really didn't matter too much, though, because I spent most of my day with my little monkey. Ugh, she's so damn cute!!! I will share a few pictures tomorrow.

After her mommy picked her up, I had an awesome dinner with my brother and CSJ* at this great little Mexican place my brother likes. Then, CSJ and I spent some time walking around in the rain at a car lot looking at cars for Stud. We actually just spent about 2 hours looking online at various sites. We have a list of cars we want to check out this week.

Now, I'm completely exhausted, and we're gonna hit the hay. I hope your Saturday was as enjoyable as mine. :)

*Karen suggested, in a comment she made the other day, that I may need to change these initials. I was trying to think of something else that would fit those initials (Cute Silly Jerk?) but I'm not having any real luck. Anyone else have any suggestions?

Friday, November 25, 2011

Friday, November 25, 2011Do you like to buy presents ahead of time or right when you need to give them?

I prefer to buy gifts ahead of time. I used to be one of those people who would be finished Christmas shopping, with all gifts wrapped and stashed, before Halloween. I would shop all year long, grabbing things when I found them, usually on sale. Now that the kids are older, there's almost no point in even shopping. All 3 of the teens prefer to receive cash these days.

Thankfully, this Christmas will be a little different, now that the baby is here. Actually, I spent several hours today shopping for her. Well, I guess maybe it was more for my brother. I picked up a really cool bouncy seat that vibrates and has a toy bar across it. It's a jungle-themed seat, and has a cute little monkey hanging from the bar. I don't remember if I mentioned it, but pretty much everything the baby has is monkey-themed. It's what her daddy wanted, and we are having tons-o-fun with it.

I also got her a Johnny Jump Up. I can NOT wait for her to try it out. She has been trying to stand up since the day she was born. I'm not even kidding. She stands up now every chance she gets since, apparently, she doesn't know she's only 4 months old! This thing is gonna be right up her alley.

Naturally, I had to get her a bunch of cute outfits, including one with the most adorable little penguin shirt (it says "I love dancing with Daddy"),and these cute jeans, with the ruffles at the cuffs and pockets.I couldn't pass up this adorable little dress (It says "Santa Baby" in the middle),or this cute Christmas-y outfit.There was NO way I was leaving without this ornament. I mean, seriously?! A monkey ballerina?! This one is for my oldest niece, The Diva. I tried 10 times to post a picture of the ornament I got for her sister, but Blogger is being a bitch. It's just a sterling silver initial, studded with crystals.

There are a few other goodies that I picked up today, but since I'm not sure who may or may not read this, I'm going to keep those under wraps for now. ;-)